# Is an AI chatbot worth it for a small business? | NxtFoldS > A chatbot helps when the same questions arrive every day and the answers already exist in writing. Here is how to judge whether that describes your business. Source: https://nxtfolds.com/insights/is-an-ai-chatbot-worth-it-for-a-small-business - [Home](https://nxtfolds.com/) - [Insights](https://nxtfolds.com/insights) - Is an AI chatbot worth it for a small business? AI # Is an AI chatbot worth it for a small business? A chatbot helps when the same questions arrive every day and the answers already exist in writing. Here is how to judge whether that describes your business. By [Prashant Kumar](https://nxtfolds.com/company/founder) 18 Oct 20262 min read Share [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fnxtfolds.com%2Finsights%2Fis-an-ai-chatbot-worth-it-for-a-small-business) In this article - [When it helps](#when-it-helps) - [When it does not](#when-it-does-not) - [What it needs from you](#what-it-needs-from-you) - [Handing over to a person](#handing-over-to-a-person) - [How to measure it](#how-to-measure-it) Many business owners are asked about chatbots by customers, staff or the competition. The honest answer depends less on the technology and more on the questions your business receives. ## When it helps Look at the last fifty messages your team answered. If most of them ask about prices, timings, delivery, returns or how to book, and the answers are already written somewhere, an assistant can reply to those at any hour. Your team then spends its time on the messages that need a person. ## When it does not If most enquiries are unique, involve negotiation or need someone to look at a site or a document, a chatbot will mostly pass people on. In that case a good enquiry form that asks the right questions is often the better first step. ## What it needs from you A modern assistant answers from your own material: help pages, policies, price lists and past replies. The clearer and more current that material is, the better the answers. Part of every chatbot project is tidying those documents, and that work helps your team too. ## Handing over to a person Every assistant should make it easy to reach a human, and should pass on the conversation with what has already been said. It should also say when it is unsure instead of guessing. These limits are what make customers trust it. ## How to measure it Count how many conversations it finished without help, how many it passed on, and what customers said afterwards. Read a sample of real conversations every week for the first month. Those numbers tell you whether it is worth keeping far better than any demo. Where we help with this - [AI Chatbots](https://nxtfolds.com/services/ai-chatbots) - [AI Development](https://nxtfolds.com/services/ai-development) - [AI Customer Support](https://nxtfolds.com/solutions/ai-customer-support) - [AI Receptionist](https://nxtfolds.com/solutions/ai-receptionist) ## Keep reading - 01 ### What decides the cost of a website? Two websites can look alike and cost very different amounts. These are the parts of a project that move the price, so you can compare quotes with the right questions. https://nxtfolds.com/insights/what-decides-the-cost-of-a-website - 02 ### What to prepare before you talk to a developer A first call goes further when you bring a few things with you. None of them need to be perfect, and all of them save time. https://nxtfolds.com/insights/what-to-prepare-before-you-talk-to-a-developer - 03 ### Does your website need an admin panel? An admin panel lets your team change the website without a developer. Here is how to tell whether you need one, and what a good one includes. https://nxtfolds.com/insights/does-your-website-need-an-admin-panel Start a project ## Have something ambitious in mind? Let's turn your idea into something real. [hello@nxtfolds.com](mailto:hello@nxtfolds.com) [Start a project](https://nxtfolds.com/start-a-project)